Child, aunt gunned down

RAMLA - A devastating end to family celebration: A three-year-old girl and her 35-year-old aunt were shot to death in a drive-by shooting in Ramla, near Tel Aviv, following a combined bar and bat mitzvah celebration. Another four relatives riding in the car sustained moderate to serious injuries. The assassins apparently ambushed the family members near the banquet hall and opened fire at the car they were riding in. Police have yet to arrest suspects in connection with the crime, while a judge imposed a publication ban on any details connected to the investigation. Investigators estimate the murder is a result of wrong identity or a failed robbery attempt. Terrorism has not yet been ruled out, but police believe the likelihood terrorists were behind the killing is slim. Large police forces were dispatched to the scene and set up roadblocks at all entrance and exits in the Ramla area. Meanwhile, hundreds of police officers and detectives initiated a manhunt for the suspects in the horrifying crime. ‘It looked like a battle scene’ Netanel Sassonov, a relative who was present at the celebration, told Ynet the tragedy was incomprehensible. “The father waited so much for this event,” he said.” When it was over we hugged and left, and then we heard about the terrible incident and arrived here. The sight and the news are simply shocking.” The cries and shouts of pain could be heard throughout the neighborhood, as relatives and neighbors were struggling to digest the shocking sight of the bullet-ridden vehicle. A police official who declined to be named said such murder is unheard of in the area. “Fire was opened at a vehicle where an entire family was riding, when it was obvious it (fire) couldn’t be controlled, and the result is difficult,” he said. Magen David Adom rescue service paramedic Alon Herlinger, who was among the first on the scene, said he was also horrified by what he saw. “The place really looked like a battle scene, everything was full of blood, shouts, and a completely bullet-ridden vehicle,” he said.

Child, aunt gunned down

Surge in violence continues: Six family members on way back from bar mitzvah attacked in their car; another four relatives sustain moderate to serious injuries. Motive for vicious murder still unclear